


Baby, It's Halloween

by sunflowersilkscreen



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Episode: s02e06 Epidemiology, Fluff, Gay Panic, Halloween, M/M, episode rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28493538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowersilkscreen/pseuds/sunflowersilkscreen
Summary: In which the taco meat was taco meat, the food poisoning was food poisoning, and Abed was committed to the buddy costume.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 5
Kudos: 112





	Baby, It's Halloween

The perks of being a homecoming king and star quarterback are that you get a certain kind of immunity. In high school, Troy was free to like _Star Wars_ and all sorts of nerdy things because he was wrapped in his popularity like bubble wrap. Nothing could shatter his persona of coolness, not even occasionally indulging in weird sci-fi movies and comic books, as long as he kept these interests hidden from his friends.

Unfortunately, in college, he’s just some dude, not T-Bone, not the homecoming king. So when Abed pretends to attack him at the Halloween party, and he pretends to fight him off, it doesn’t impress any girls like Abed assured him it would. It just makes them laugh at him.

It’s mortifying. Troy doesn’t know why he bothers listening to Abed’s plans. Sure, most of the time they’re amazing and lead to cool adventures and a lot of time spent laughing together. But when they don’t work, he ends up embarrassed and definitely alone on Halloween, when he should have been surrounded by hot girls throwing their phone numbers at him.

Jeff, in his stupid suit, isn’t making matters any better. Troy _does_ feel like a little kid getting taken to Comic-Con. And normally he would consider that a compliment! Comic-Con is _fun._ Just like Abed is fun.

But it’s not getting Troy any attention from any ladies, and he hasn’t so much as hooked up with a girl all school year, and it’s starting to feel a little strange that he hasn’t found a single one who’s interested in him. Or maybe he just hasn’t found any that he is interested in. That always leads him to wonder if he’s even still interested in girls at all, which is a pretty weird line of thinking he’s hoping to avoid, if possible.

It’s not the only weird thing happening that night, though. There’s some minor chaos unfolding throughout the library: apparently the taco meat the Dean had picked up for the party was expired, or possibly poisoned – Troy isn’t exactly sure. In any case, Dean Pelton surreptitiously dumps the tray of dip onto the lawn outside the library, and students who came in contact with it are escorted from the building, clutching their stomachs and turning green.

Troy watches as an ailing Pierce is escorted from the library. He feels a little bad, like maybe as his roommate, he should be the one taking care of the guy. But his guilt is fleeting: right now, he’s on a mission to find a new costume. 

He improvises, feeling a little stupid for reentering the study room draped in toilet paper, but hoping the way he looks shirtless makes up for it. He tries to flex a little harder as he approaches Abed. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Abed glances up, and Troy immediately clocks the shift in his expression as mild confusion gives way to something closer to hurt. “Where’s your costume?”

“I’m trying something new.” Troy tries to sound chill but finds he can’t quite look at Abed as he speaks again.

“But our costumes go together. And if you’re not in yours, I’m just a guy in a spandex suit and a bike helmet.” 

“Yeah, well, I’m a sexy Dracula. Maybe you should’ve picked a less nerdy duo costume for us, nerd.”

He drifts off, ignoring the shock on Abed’s face and the guilt twisting in his own gut.

The thing that’s good for erasing guilt is alcohol, and luckily that’s not in short supply at this party. He grabs himself a cup of punch and floats over to the girls who had laughed at him earlier, now joined by two more of their friends. All four girls scan Troy’s body up and down as he approaches, and it’s honestly kind of creepy, but he can’t deny that it feels pretty good, too.

“You changed,” one of the girls notes, and Troy nods coolly.

“Yeah, wasn’t feeling the whole nerdy space theme, you know?” He takes a sip from his cup and tries to flex his muscles as he does so. “I’m a sexy Dracula now.”

“It’s a good look,” one of the new girls says, eyeing Troy up with a smile. “I’m Caroline, by the way.”

“I’m Troy.” He smiles, and the girls giggle as they introduce themselves. The evening takes a much brighter turn after that. He’s pretty sure all these girls are flirting with him. He wishes Abed was here to see this.

Also, Jeff Winger could suck it.

+

Troy almost forgets about being a total jerk to Abed and a bad roommate to Pierce and a complete ghost to the rest of his friends. Caroline, Gabby, Lindsay and Dana all think he’s really, really funny, which is a pretty good feeling. Plus, they’re all super hot. He’s not sure he feels a particular draw to any of them, necessarily, but the fact that they all seem interested in him is definitely stroking his ego. Once again, he wishes Abed was here to see how awesome this night was going.

“Whoa,” Gabby says suddenly, her eyes drifting to a spot just over Troy’s shoulder. “Is that your weird friend from before?”

Troy turns, expecting to see Jeff and his stupid suit, but is shocked to see Abed approaching them instead. Troy’s jaw drops when he realizes what Abed has done.

He’s ditched the bike helmet, apparently over the _Alien_ theme but not ready to give up on a buddy costume just yet. His shirt is _gone,_ as in nowhere to be found, as in Abed is walking through the library completely shirtless. A few loops of toilet paper are wrapped over his arms and hanging off his neck, but beyond that – _when did Abed get so ripped?_

Troy’s eyes are so huge they will probably never return to their original size, and it’s all Abed’s fault, because what the _hell_ does he think he’s doing?

All he does is nod at Troy when he reaches the small group. “Hey,” he says brightly, before turning and nodding to Troy’s new lady friends. “And hello,” he adds in a voice distinctly more suave than usual.

 _He’s doing Don Draper!_ Troy is fuming – or at least he would be, if he could drag his eyes away from Abed’s abs for, like, two seconds.

Dana holds a hand out for Abed to shake. “I’m Dana,” she says before introducing the rest of her friends. “Are you a sexy mummy?”

“Wow, got it right on the first try,” Abed says with a smooth wink. “My best friend and I agreed on a buddy costume this year, and when our first duo design didn’t work out, well, we thought a sexy mummy and sexy vampire made a pretty perfect pair.”

“Sexy Dracula,” Troy says through gritted teeth.

Abed laughs a fake, charming laugh as he slides his arm around Troy’s shoulder. Troy very much does _not_ whimper at that, and if he does, it’s a very manly sound that he is able to cover up with a loud clearing of his throat. It’s fine. He’s definitely not getting goosebumps all along the places Abed’s skin is touching his.

“Ladies, if you don’t mind, we’ve got some unfinished business to attend to,” Abed-as-Draper says. “But please, feel free to find us later. We may be dressed as monsters, but we don’t bite…unless you ask nicely,” he adds, and Lindsay giggles.

“Oh, my God,” Troy whispers as the girls begin to drift away and Abed pulls him in the opposite direction.

As they pass through the study room, they run into Britta and Jeff, who are in deep conversation, presumably about Pierce and whether or not anyone should have checked on him by now to see if he was still alive. The pair pauses their conversation as Troy and Abed approach. Britta opens her mouth, but Jeff stops her with a raised hand.

“Nope. Nuh-uh. Whatever this is,” he says, gesturing at the shirtless friends in front of him, “we don’t want to be involved. In fact, we don’t even want to know what this is about. Have a nice evening.”

He pulls Britta away, and Abed drags Troy out into the quieter library proper. They find themselves alone behind a stack of books, where the thumping of ABBA is still audible, but most conversations are out of earshot.

“Why did you pull me away from those girls? They were all super interested in me!” Troy shouts, then wonders quickly if library rules still apply after hours.

“You had a weird look on your face and you were making that noise you make sometimes before you cry,” Abed says, pointing at Troy. “I figured that meant you were upset about something and since you seemed fine before I joined the group, I figured it was something I did wrong. So. Did I do something wrong?”

“Uh, well, since we’re on the subject, _yes,_ Abed!” Troy admits, waving a vague hand at Abed’s general shirtlessness and hotness. “What is _this?”_

Abed looks down at himself and then back up at Troy. “You said I should have picked a less nerdy duo costume, so I changed. Now we’re both sexy monsters, which is what you wanted, but we’re still matching, which is what I wanted. I thought you’d be happy.”

It’s really hard to get mad, let alone stay mad, at Abed. Troy has quickly figured that out over the past year of being his friend. The others in the study group have little patience with him, but Troy thinks he could live in Abed’s world forever if he’d let him. There’s magic there, and awesome adventures, and incredible ideas like covering yourself in toilet paper just so you and your best friend could prove to the world that you’re best friends, especially on Halloween.

He wishes he had Abed’s commitment and follow-through. He also wishes he wasn’t afraid to be seen with Abed like this. There’s something weird about their matching costumes requiring them both to be shirtless. It was one thing to dress like nerds together. This new costume – well, it feels like the kind of thing Troy would have made fun of in high school, which in itself makes him think it’s a bad idea.

“It’s weird,” Troy says stubbornly, because his mind isn’t exactly working at 100% capacity right now. “I was supposed to be the sexy one who got the ladies tonight, and now – they probably all think I’m dating you!”

It doesn’t occur to him until he says it out loud, but it’s true. He’s worried he and Abed look like they’re in some weird sexy gay couple costume. He’s also worried that if they weren’t at a party, if they were all alone in Abed’s dorm watching scary movies together, he probably wouldn’t mind if they looked like a weird sexy gay couple. It might actually be something he would want.

“I’m not dating you or your abs!” Troy yells suddenly, making Abed jump.

“I never said you were,” Abed says quickly, frowning. “The whole point of tonight was to try and find you a cute girl. That’s why I was your alien wingman, and that’s what I was trying to do before, until you started making that weird face.”

“I wasn’t making a weird face!” Troy insists. “And I wasn’t staring at you!”

“I never said you were,” Abed repeats, and now he looks confused and sad, and Troy sinks to the floor with his back against a bookshelf.

“I know,” he says heavily. Abed slides to the floor beside him, and Troy sighs. “I’m still not always comfortable being myself in public. I used to make fun of nerdy kids in high school – I’m not exactly used to _being_ one of the nerdy kids now.”

“You’re in college now, Troy,” Abed says, tugging at the toilet paper around his wrist. “No one really cares what you do anymore. Some people still judge you, sure, but as someone who was nerdy in high school and is still nerdy now, it’s _way_ easier to be a nerd in college.”

“I guess.” Troy glances sidelong at Abed. “Also, uh, I didn’t really expect you to be shirtless today. Or for you to be so ripped.”

“Well, neither did I,” Abed says, his eyes scanning over Troy in a way that makes him squirm, not unpleasantly. Abed adopts his Batman voice and says, “You’re a very attractive young man,” just like he did at Annie’s party a year ago. But the implication is completely different this year, and Troy finds his face getting warm the longer he stays under Abed’s gaze.

“Look, why don’t we just put our nerdy costumes on?” Troy says quietly after a moment. “We spent forever working on them. It seems dumb to just throw those out for…” He lifts up Abed’s arm and shakes it around, the toilet paper wilting limply. “This.”

Abed smiles as Troy drops his arm. “You’re right. I stashed mine next to yours behind those potted plants. Let’s go get them before anyone messes with them.”

He jumps to his feet and extends a hand to help Troy up. When they’re both standing, Troy turns and offers Abed their signature handshake. They complete it with a grin, and then, because it feels like a pretty big moment in their friendship, Troy opens his arms for a real hug.

“I’m sorry I almost ruined Halloween,” he says as Abed slips into his arms. “I won’t do anything dumb like that ever again.”

“Sorry if I pushed you into doing something you weren’t comfortable with,” Abed says. “I’ve always been a nerd, but this is still new to you. I should’ve respected that.”

“It’s all cool, man,” Troy says, squeezing Abed tight. It’s only then that he remembers they’re both completely shirtless, and Abed feels warm and smooth in his arms despite being pretty boney, and he jumps away before he can think too much about his best friend’s body. That's a problem for another day. 

“Can we watch movies in your dorm after the party?” Troy asks as they make their way over to the potted plant.

“Definitely,” Abed says, his eyes lighting up at the suggestion. “I’ve got a stack of zombie movies that’ll be perfect for tonight.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos would make me smile, if you’re so inclined!


End file.
